High Altitude Physiology. Edited by John B. West. Hutchinson Ross, Pennsyl­vania, 1982. 462 pages. $55.

High Altitude Physiology. Coleridge wrote “the lessons of the past illu­minate the future” and the more one studies, the more one comes to respect the successes or failures of our predecessors. W est’s book (one of the Benchmark collection) is an indispensable reference for anyone curious about how we got where we are today in our knowledge of altitude physiology. He has managed to collect— and even better to edit skillfully— the most valuable materials of the last several centuries, and it is exciting to read, in their own words, what our brilliant forerunners wrote. One misses some: for example excerpts of Hur­tado’s 1937 paper might have been translated and included to enlighten the many who quote without having read him, and Longstaff’s privately printed thesis, one of the first comprehensive treatments of altitude illness would be a valuable addition. But every one would have a different list, and West has made a splendid selection. If you wish to know some of the classics in this field, there is no better— in fact no other single source.